I would love to put up a bunch of pictures of my sweet adorable new little one, but the internet is really slow right now and I'm afraid it would take forever to post even one or two pictures. Anyway, I still wanted to recount the last couple of weeks waiting for Isaiah to arrive. I promise to put up some pictures soon though.
About a week and a half ago I went in for the 38 week check up with my OB and she told Daniel and I that she expected me to have the baby before I went in the next week. So we spent the next few days anxiously waiting for labor to start. I had gone in on Wednesday and on Friday I started to get some contractions, so we got really excited. However, God had different plans and after a few hours of waiting for them to get stronger they eventually went the other way and ended up stopping. False labor. I think all three of us had been so anxious to meet the little guy that we were all a little bummed. JoAnn started asking to see baby brother and it was so cute to see how excited she was to meet him. Anyway, the next Wednesday rolled around and I was still pregnant. So we went in for another check up and the doctor told us that if I didn't start labor by Saturday, which was my due date that she wanted me to come in and get a non stress test. I guess that is just the way they do things here. If you hit your due date they like to make sure that the baby is still thriving and that it is okay to keep going with the pregnancy. So, early Saturday morning Daniel and I left to get the test done. We had left home not really expecting anything and in just a matter of hours, I had the NST and one other test done and we were sitting across from the doctor who was telling us she thought it would be best for us to have the baby that day by c-section. Wow. That was not what I was expecting when I woke up in the morning.
I guess when they did the NST, it came back that he was non-reactive. I don't know all the ins and outs of the test, but from what I understood it meant that when he encountered the normal stresses of being in the uterus (i.e. braxton hicks contractions, his own kicking and moving, and external noises) his heart rate didn't go up like it should have. Just like when we do anything our heart rate spikes momentarily, his should have too, but did not. Anyway, they followed that test up by doing a very in depth ultrasound that showed the amount of blood flow to the uterus, umbilical cord, his brain, etc. They were trying to find out if there was a restriction somewhere that was causing his heart rate to not react like it should have. Evidently, that test showed that the blood flow was fine, but also showed that the placenta had already started to age and break down. So, based on the fact that the placenta was starting to age, the doctor felt as though I needed to have the baby that day. Normally she would have waited another week before inducing me. So, that meant I either needed to have them try to start labor or I needed to have a c-section. When she took into account the fact that he didn't react well on the NST to normal stresses, she was highly concerned that if I went into labor, he really wouldn't do well. So, that left the c-section. So, that was it. I had told Daniel as soon as I figured things weren't going the way they were supposed to that I wanted to do whatever the doctor felt was best. She is a very good doctor, a strong Christian and I completely trust her, so it was settled. We went straight to the pre labor room where they prepped me and got things started.
Everything felt like a whirlwind, but God has provided a great group of doctors and friends for us here and it went about as smoothly as I could have hoped for. The one thing I will always be thankful for is that our doctor, who knew from when I had JoAnn and also from previous conversations during this pregnancy that I felt very strongly about wanting to have Daniel with me for as much of the process as possible and even though hospital policy is now that they do not allow the fathers in the operating room for any c-section, she talked them into allowing Daniel to be there once they had me prepped and ready to go. That was huge for me since I hadn't been able to see him since the decision was made for me to have the baby and I was starting to get pretty anxious about what was happening. Other than dental surgery (which I don't really count as surgery) it was my first time ever having any kind of surgery and I barely had anytime to process what was going on.
Anyway, as it turns out it was really good that I hadn't gone into labor and tried to have Isaiah naturally because his umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck, which is why they think he didn't do as well on the NST as they had wanted. So, all in all both he and I are doing great and I have to thank God for getting us through everything like He did. So, just to wrap it up here are a few of the stats...
Isaiah Matthew Bucher
Born Feb. 20, 2010 1:51 PM, Manila time
7 lbs 12 oz.
21 inches
I promise to put up some pictures soon.
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